Hero dog released from Calif. veterinary hospital

Kabang, a two-year-old injured mixed breed, is photographed with her caregiver Dawn Gillette as she is released from the from the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California, Davis, in Davis, Calif., Monday, June 3, 2013. Kabang lost her snout and upper jaw saving two girls' lives and is heading back to the Philippines after treatment at a California hospital. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A famed dog that lost her snout and upper jaw saving two girls' lives in the Philippines was released from a California hospital Monday, officials said.

The dog — named Kabang — will be headed back to its owner in the Philippines following treatment at the University of California, Davis veterinary hospital, said UC Davis veterinary professor Frank Verstraete. Doctors at the hospital performed surgery to heal her wounds, though they could not reconstruct Kabang's jaw or snout, Verstraete said.

"She's a very, very happy, functional dog, and that is all that we were after," Verstraete said.

Kabang had her snout and upper jaw sheared off in December 2011 when she jumped in front of a motorcycle in the Philippines. She saved the lives of her owner's daughter and niece, who were apparently in the path of the oncoming cycle.

Nearly a year after Kabang sustained the injuries, a nurse from Buffalo, N.Y. was able to raise the money to bring her to the U.S. Veterinarians in the Philippines were apparently unable to treat her injuries.

Doctors at UC Davis were unable to perform surgery on Kabang initially because she needed to be treated for other ailments, including a tumor and heartworms. Treatment of those ailments would have prevented her wounds from healing.

Doctors took skin from her cheeks, neck, and forehead to cover up sensitive areas that were exposed on her face during the March surgery, Verstraete said.